I understand that my 47 years of big-game hunting, much of it as my profession, and my life’s work with ballistics and terminal bullet performance don’t give me the credibility of this week’s newest blogger, but I am going to talk a little about something that has been bugging the heck out of me lately.

The rise in popularity of hunting with ARs crashed head-on into the population explosion of wild hogs in this country. That has led to a lot of instant experts and a lot of bad information being put out about hog hunting.

I understand that opinions are like armpits, that everybody has one and they all stink (except mine). My opinion on the topic is this: The .223 Remington and .300 Blackout are outstanding cartridges, but not for hunting hogs. Sure, I know they kill a lot of hogs every year. So what? When we raised hogs we killed them with a .22 LR, but that hardly makes it a hog cartridge. A few years back, I killed a big boar hog in Texas with a .17 HMR. It does not make it an acceptable hog cartridge. In fact, I can tell you without a hint of doubt that it is not even close to a viable hog cartridge.

The .223 Remington and .300 Blackout are better choices than the rimfires but, in my never humble opinion, they are still underpowered to be serious and ethical hog-hunting cartridges. Yes, I know all about the newer high-performance bullets, and yes they help, but they cannot alter the laws of physics. These cartridges simply lack the horsepower needed.

I have used them both to shoot several hogs, so I base my opinions on experience, not theory. I know that relying on years of experience is a flawed strategy in today’s keyboard ballistic wars, but I simply don’t have time to surf the Net to form new opinions.

Proponents of smaller cartridges in the AR will always resort to the argument, “It’s all about shot placement!” Well, duh, all hunting is about shot placement. But sometimes that’s not enough.

Hogs are tough and they don’t leave much of a blood trail, particularly if the bullet doesn’t exit. What nobody wants to talk about are the wounding losses. “It’s just a hog, who cares?” one guy shouted at me after I got too close to the truth.

Well, I care.

We have an obligation with any game to reduce the possibility of wounding loss as much as possible. Elk, deer, hogs or coyotes—it makes no difference. Show some respect.

Besides, those arguing for “shot placement” are often arguing for target areas with a high wounding loss probability if the shot is off even a little bit. Head shots are not the answer; they are often the problem. A lot of “misses” result in broken jaws and a horrible fate for the hog. Again, show a little respect. The preferred shot for all other big game is the heart/lung area. It should be with hogs as well.

While the little cartridges might work most of the time, particularly on the smaller hogs that make up most of the population, a smart hunter plans for the worst-case scenario. A big boar hog is one of the toughest critters in North America. They can weigh upwards of 300 or 400 pounds, so bring enough cartridge to handle the biggest boars and the rest will take care of itself.

A big boar hog is nature’s bullet trap and, as with all big game, I prefer exit holes for a lot of reasons. You get a better blood trail for one, but also because an expanded bullet that exits with a lot of retained velocity will create a large wound channel from start to finish. What kills big game is tissue damage, not “dumped energy.”

The AR is an outstanding choice for hog hunting, but only if it’s chambered for the right cartridge. Here are a few AR-15 cartridges that are “right” for hunting hogs. Remember, one of the great things about an AR-15 is you don’t need to buy a new rifle: Any of these uppers can fit on your existing lower.

.30 Remington AR
I am told that I am partly responsible for the new Remington line of ammo called Hog Hammer. Never shy about speaking my mind, I was at the annual Remington Seminar a while back and asked one of the product managers about the possibility of loading Barnes bullets in Remington ammo. For those who don’t know, Remington and Barnes are now both owned by the same parent company, Freedom Group. The Remington guy said they had no plans to load Barnes bullets.

I replied, “You own the company that makes the best hunting bullet on Earth and you are not going to use it in your ammo? That’s one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.” (Diplomacy has never been one of my strong points.)

I guess he listened, and a year later the result is this new line of ammo. I later told him they were limiting their market appeal with the Hog Hammer name because it’s darn good deer, bear, elk or whatever ammo too. I guess I blew my wad with the first idea and “Hog Hammer” remains. But if you see a similar line of ammo in the future from Remington called Buck Hammer, remember it was my idea.

The .30 Remington AR (.30 RAR) is a shortened .450 Bushmaster case that’s necked down to .30 caliber, with a few other modifications including a switch to a small rifle primer. The .30 Remington AR was the first .30-caliber mainstream cartridge designed specifically for the AR-15.

Why do I think the .30 RAR is a viable hog-hunting cartridge but the .300 Blackout is not? Simple: case capacity. The .30 RAR has 83 percent more case capacity, which means it drives similar bullets faster and with more energy. It has over 26 percent more velocity with a 125-grain bullet, which means a 60 percent increase in energy. That means the .30 Remington AR is by far the best factory option in a .30 caliber for hunting big game with an AR-15 rifle.

This cartridge is very close in ballistics to the old .300 Savage, which is well-respected, with a proven history in the field. One improvement is that the .30 RAR has better bullets in factory ammo than the .300 Savage. With the new Hog Hammer load using a Barnes 125-grain TSX bullet at 2800 fps muzzle velocity, the .30 Remington AR is a viable hog cartridge.

The Barnes TSX, all-copper expanding bullet has a reputation for 100 percent weight retention and very deep penetration, which is always an asset when shooting at pork chops on the hoof.

.450 Bushmaster
This is my idea of a hog gun: big, heavy bullets delivered with a lot of energy. The concept used to develop the .450 Bushmaster was a semi-auto rifle larger than .44 caliber capable of taking big game out to 250 yards. Hornady developed the ammo, using a rebated rim case. It pushes a 250-grain FTX bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2200 fps from a 20-inch barrel. Bushmaster designed the rifle on an AR-15 platform.

Freedom Group also owns Bushmaster, so it made sense that Remington would start making ammo. Considering that this is one of the best hog-hunting cartridges in the AR, it made sense that they would make it in the Hog Hammer line.

The Barnes 275-grain XPB bullet has a muzzle velocity of 2175 fps and 2,758 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy. My guess is it was this cartridge that inspired the name “Hog Hammer”—or at least it should have been. I have shot a bunch of hogs with some early engineering samples of the load and it absolutely “hammers” them. Most of those I shot never took another step.

I also shot a water buffalo that weighed more than three-quarters of a ton with the .450 Bushmaster and Remington Hog Hammer ammo. He ran about 40 yards and politely fell in a good place to get a truck to for the trip to the butcher shop. I might note that water buffalo meat is absolutely delicious. If you ever have a chance to try it, do not pass.

.458 SOCOM
The .458 SOCOM was developed for military applications after the fighting in Mogadishu. That battle left a lot of participants disappointed in the performance of 5.56mm NATO, and they wanted some serious, .45-70-class thumping power for the M-16/M-4 style rifles. (Take note: Hogs tend to run a little bigger and a lot tougher than insurgents. If the .223 is not enough gun for them, it’s not enough for hogs either. Just saying.)

The .458 SOCOM (which means Special Operations Command) uses a lengthened .50 A.E. case with a rebated rim that’s necked down for a .458-inch bullet. One big advantage with that .458 diameter is there is a wide selection of bullets on the market.

11 Responses to Grown-Up Hog Loads

i have dropped hogs in their tracks with a 22mag. So now we have to read bull like this Author wrote.GET REAL! Shoot what you want if it is legal in the state you hunt in

Brett Bond wrote:January 21, 2015

Why not use the one of the best hunting Calibers made being The 270 Winchester. Thank You.

New River Valley Outdoorsman wrote:December 30, 2014

The 8x57 Mauser is a great round and will do the job on hogs. I have killed one wild pig with mine and two African warthogs. I have also used it very successfully on BIG animals, including a 1900-pound eland, an 800 pound zebra, and a couple of others including whitetails. I've got a drilling chambered for the rimmed counterpart, the 8x57JR. It took a 300+ pound ostrich and a nice fat whitetail doe; I'm taking it on a pig shoot this week. One word of caution: the American companies underload this round. Use Norma's stuff to get the full value of the 8x57, which is equal to the .30-06. Norma loads the 196-grain 'Oryx' and 'Alaska' bullets in this caliber. They will penetrate the biggest boar: in fact the 8x57 and 8x57JR are routinely used in Europe on real wild boar. Heavy bullets work best: high velocity light weight bullets lack the momentum needed for deep penetration and exiting the other side. Use your 8x57 with Norma ammunition and you will not be disappointed.

Doug76 wrote:September 18, 2014

I use the .223 round successfully in all my hog hunting. Head shots are the key, and the gun and cartridge are more than accurate enough to insure bullet placement. I'm not after the trophy, but the meat. The .223 works, and I'll bet the .300Blk will too, and I plan to find out soon.

Craig wrote:September 16, 2014

I stand with the author the 223 has no Buissness in big game hunting , it's a varmint cartridge . The only reason anyone in there right mind would use a 223 is most likely that what they have and not a ethical round for anything bigger than coyotes ,

Craig wrote:September 15, 2014

I used the Remington accutip in 450 bushmaster and never lost one hog with a well placed shot . If I do my part the round never failed once .

GORDON wrote:September 11, 2014

Why not 6.5? They use it for moose in other parts of the world.
If you have said smaller guns don't shoot the biggest pigs.

Aaron wrote:February 14, 2014

I am just gettin started in hog hunting and wondered about using an 8mm mauser that I have. I don't have any AR type of rifle yet and money is tight. Will this be adequate for the job ?

James wrote:December 26, 2013

I bet the author also thinks any caliber under .30 is unethical for white tail. Look, there is nothing wrong with power and large calibers - but discounting a small caliber simply because your personal experience doesn't jive with umpteen thousands of other applicable data sets doesn't mean your personal beliefs somehow have super majic powers over real world data. (And really - it was hard to read past the horrible comparison with M855 ammo that the .mil uses versus the plethora of mid to premium hunting designed projectiles available to us that the .mil cannot use). The obvious Barnes homerismn didn't help either - they make good projos, but they are far from universally accepted as the best in the world (a Mr. Nosler would make a strong argument against the author's in this regard).
Bottom line - choose the caliber that is up to the task at hand, and take ethical shots. But make no mistake about it - caliber is 4th or 5th on the list of importance of decisions that need to be made for hunting game.

Craig Black wrote:December 25, 2013

Don't forget the mid weight calibers that will drop the big ones and not blow up the little ones. The 6.5 Grendel and the 6.8SPC II. Both are dropping hogs like crazy. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ARHunting/

Alex wrote:December 25, 2013

What about the 6.8 SPC II? I have had mine and have taken over 400 hogs in two years. It is devastating with Hornady 120 SST ammo. I have seen it take everything from 20 pound piglets to 320 pounds boars with ease. I hunt for eradication and take a lot of shots at running hogs. This round will anchor them in their tracks. A 120 grain bullet going 2500-2600 fps at the muzzle from a 16' barrel is plenty for hogs.
6.8 SPC ammo is more available then 30 RAR too. It is produced by Hornady, Federal, and Remington. I rarely see 30 RAR in my area and when I travel. Please take the time to do some research at www.68forums.com . I think you will like this cartridge once you understand it.